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You know the kind of people who never meet a stranger. I'm talking about the kind of people who walk into a room, and in no time at all, everyone knows them. And, everyone wants to be their friend. I'm not that person.
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It could be worse. I was once at a gathering, and I overheard a brief conversation. One person started his exchange with a complete stranger by asking, "Who do you know?" I was truly appalled. What possible difference does it matter who you know? I once knew the rector of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. So, I was one person away from the pope. But, who cares about that unless you're playing Six Degrees of Separation? There are so many better questions to ask someone when in search of something in common to discuss. What is something interesting that you have done? Can you share a travel adventure (or in my case, disaster)? If you don't have an adventure, then where would you like to have one? What's one of the best things that have happened to you this week? Pretty much anything is better than, "Who do you know?"
Recently, I had a little help in meeting someone. One of my friends at church met a guy named Phil. My friend decided that, since we share the same name, Phil should meet Phillip. So, we had a starting point for a conversation. (That really helps me.) And, my very first question wasn't the conversation-stopper that it could have been. "Do you spell Phillip correctly?" As it turned out, he didn't. But, fortunately, Phil has a good sense of humor about it. I really can't blame the guy if his parents could only spell the name with one L. I guess he could legally change his name if he wanted to be correct. But, that just has never occurred to him. He goes by Phil. I have never once in my life introduced myself as Phil, so it's very easy for anyone to distinguish us in conversation.
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Phil is a marketing kind of person, my polar opposite. He spouts out letters like API and all kinds of business terms that just fly over my head. I have to remind him that I know nothing about anything when he talks about marketing. So, Phil is also very patient.
In his line of work, he knows how to help people make their presence known online and how to sell things on the web. Usually, he meets people who are interested in just that. His next question is, "What do you have to sell on your site?" The answer is always "Nothing". Phil told me that I'm the first person he ever met that had a gazillion things ready to sell and was just sitting with them and not doing anything. I did tell you that I don't know how to market, after all. I am not lying to you.
Have you ever heard of Shopify? If the answer is no, you may have marketing skills like me. If your answer is yes, you may be closer to Phil. You know, the one with one L.
Phil actually had a Shopify account that he wasn't using. He paid for a full year of service, and it was just sitting there online gathering Internet dust. So, he gave me the site and said I should put it to use. My free remaining seven months would give me a jumpstart on my marketing.
So, what do I have to market? I've completed 19 children's books, mostly during a lockdown created by a nasty little virus. You can now go to my Shopify account and order the books print on demand. Very cool as far as the guy with 2 Ls, the proper amount, is concerned. Now, I think that 19 books is an impressive amount of work. But, I would never refer to it as a gazillion. What on earth was Phil, one L, talking about?
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Let me introduce you to Printify.
All of my 19 books are beautifully illustrated, at least if you ask the illustrator, me. It's those illustrations applied to what Printify does that adds up to a gazillion. With Printify, you can make products to display your business logo, or in my case, my wide assortment of children's books. The assortment consists of clocks, mugs, postcards, Christmas ornaments, spiral and hard-cover notebooks, magnets, puzzles, tote bags, T-shirts, pins, luggage tags, key chains, mouse pads, coasters, stationary cubes, Teddy bears, tumblers, socks, fanny packs, pencil cases and even shoes! It's taken me about three weeks to create all of these treasures.
Now, it really isn't a gazillion items. It may feel like it when setting up the Printify and Shopify accounts, but the latest total according to Shopify's trusty list of merchandise is 3,193 items. That's close enough to a gazillion for me.
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There are two people I have to thank for this accomplishment. Thank you, Phil, with one L, for so graciously offering me this opportunity. And, I have a very special nephew, Jerome Peor, who never has faced a computer issue that he couldn't solve. He worked wonders in three days that allowed me to sit in front of my computer for the last three weeks without throwing the machine out the window. Thanks to both of you.
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